Point Pleasant Beach Kicks Off Summer With Grand Prix

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — It won't be long now before the roar of power boats tearing through the ocean echoes throughout this small borough.

The Point Pleasant Beach Grand Prix is returning to Point Beach this weekend after an absence of many years, beginning on May 20.

The event is sponsored by the host club - The New Jersey Powerboat Racing Association - which has been the host club since the race began more than 40 years ago in Point Pleasant Beach.

"There is probably no single race more famous than The Benihana Offshore Grand Prix," according to the Offshore Powerboat Association's website. This race was known as the Indy 500 of Offshore Racing and was held in Point Pleasant Beach during the 1970s."

The name of the race has changed over the years and so has the length of the course. Back in the Benihana days, the race course was over 200 miles long, from Fire Island to Seaside Heights, the website states. Now the race is a small, four miles overall, as close to the beach as possible.

For a schedule of the events slated for the Grand Prix, click here.

For more information about the powerboat association, visit www.oparacing.org/race8.

To listen to Mayor Stephen Reid discuss the Grand Prix and what events are planned in his town during the days before the races begin, watch the video.

Photo credit: Offshore Powerboat Association.

Video credit: Comcast, Youtube.